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Mencius Assignments
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October 8
[Reading: Mencius, Book I:A (complete); I:B (complete); II:B.4; III:A.3, .4; III:B.9; IV:A.5, .12, .17, .20; IV:B.3; V:A.5; V:B.9; VI:B.4.]
- Reciprocal, Hierarchical, Role-Based Responsibilities
- Consider what Mencius says about Hsu Hsing in III:A.4. Would Mo-tzu be more likely to agree with Mencius or with Hsu?
- What does Mencius' claim that punishing people in certain circumstances is merely "trapping" them imply about Mencius' conception of the "people (min)"? See especially I:A.7 and III:A.3.
- The "Right to Rebel"
- 1:B.8 has often been said to contain the idea that the people have the right to rebel against a tyrant. Do you read it that way? Compare with V:A.5 and V:B.9.
- Mencius vs. Mo-tzu on Li
- In I:A.1 and VI:B.4, what appears to be the basic problem with talking about profit? What is the structure of Mencius' argument against talking about profit?
- What does Mencius mean when, in III:B.9, he says that Mo-tzu's ideas amount to "a denial of one's father," which leads one to be "no different from the beasts"?
October 10
[Reading: V:A.6, .8; VI:A (complete); VII:A (complete); VII:B (complete)]
- Mencius vs. Mo-tzu on Ming (fate)
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- Does Mencius believe that nature is set from birth? Consider especially VII:A.1, .2; VII:B.24. Keep in mind that Lau translates "ming" as both "destiny" and "decree," and we have seen it elsewhere as "fate."
- Is Mencius’ commitment to the existence of fate likely to have the bad consequences that Mozi argued it would?
- "Nature (hsing)" as Developmental, Nature as Social
- Do Mencius and Kao-tzu agree, in VI:A.1-5, on what "nature" means?
- What does Mencius mean by VII:A.1, "For a man to give full realization to his heart (hsin) is for him to understand his own nature (hsing)"?
October 15
October 17
[Reading: II:A.2; III:A (complete); V:A (complete); Re-read VI:A (complete); VI:B.2; VII:A.1, .2, .4, .21, .36, .38; VII:B.11, .16, .24]
- Nature in Dispute: Mencius vs. Kao-tzu
- Why does Mencius criticize Kao-tzu's view so vigorously?
- Do Mencius and Kao-tzu mean the same thing by "nature"?
- More on informal reasoning
- Analogies play a large role in VI:A.1 - 6. What roles can analogies serve in philosophical argument?
- Mini-paper 2 assigned (Due in class October 22)
October 22
[Reading: I:A.7; II:A.6; IV:A.10, .12, .27; IV:B.12, .14, .19, .28; Re-read VII:A (complete) and VII:B (complete)]
- Mini-paper 2 Due in class
- Self-Management: Affirm Your Good Self
- Are you convinced by II:A.6 that in fact "No [person] is devoid of a heart sensitive to the suffering of others"? Is this an empirical or conceptual claim? See also IV:B.12, VI:A.7, and VII:A.5.
- VII:B.31 begins, "For every man there are things he cannot bear. To extend this to what he can bear is benevolence." What does this mean? See also I:A.7 and VII:B.1.
October 24 & 29
- No Class (Prof. Angle in Beijing)
| Copyright 1999-2005
Stephen C. Angle
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